Cistanthe umbellata

Cistanthe umbellata (also Calyptridium umbellatum) is a species of flowering plant in the montia family known by the common name Mount Hood pussypaws or — especially outside the Pacific Northwest — simply pussy-paws.[5]

Mount Hood pussypaws
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Montiaceae
Genus: Cistanthe
Species:
C. umbellata
Binomial name
Cistanthe umbellata
Synonyms[1][2][3][4]
  • Calyptridium umbellatum (Torr.) Greene
  • Spraguea umbellatum Torr. (basionym)

Range

Cistanthe umbellata is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in a number of habitat types, including areas inhospitable to many other plant types, such as those with alpine climates.

A small subgroup of C. umbellatum are located in the Zayante Sandhills, a biological island in the Santa Cruz Mountains.[6] These individuals reside on a singular hill in the entirety of the sandhills, and their frail petals and loose seeds allow for easy wind dispersal.

Habit

It is a perennial herb forming generally two or more basal rosettes of thick, spoon-shaped leaves each a few centimeters long. The inflorescence arises from the rosette, a dense, spherical umbel of rounded sepals and four small petals.

C. umbellata usually has only one inflorescence per basal rosette; the related Cistanthe monosperma generally has more than one.[7]

References

  1. The name Cistanthe umbellata was published in Phytologia, 68(4): 268. 1990. New York. The basionym, Spraguea umbellata Torr., was first described and published in Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 6(2): 4 (-5; t. 1). 1853. Washington, DC. "Plant Name Details for Cistanthe umbellata". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010. nomenclatural synonym: Portulacaceae Spraguea umbellata Torr.
  2. GRIN (May 9, 2007). "Cistanthe umbellata information from NPGS/GRIN". Taxonomy for Plants. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland: USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Retrieved August 18, 2010. Synonyms: Calyptridium umbellatum (Torr.) Greene; Spraguea umbellatum Torr. (basionym)
  3.  Calyptridium umbellatum was published in Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 13: 144. 1886. New York. "Plant Name Details for Calyptridium umbellatum". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  4. "Plant Name Details for Spraguea umbellata". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010. Distribution: Forks of Nozah River in the foothills of Sierra Nevada of N California, California. Collector: J.C.Fremont s.n.
  5. "Calyptridium umbellatum". CalFlora. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. "The Rare Santa Cruz Sandhills and the People who Love Them". Bay Nature Magazine. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. "Key to Calyptridium". Jepson Herbarium. Retrieved 16 January 2020.


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